So perhaps you've heard of Annette Funicello. Mouseketeer. Full House guest star. Okay, mostly Mouseketeer. After donning the ears and singing for all the children of America in the 50's (or at least those who were tuned in to The Mickey Mouse Club), Annette starred in a string of teenybopper beach movies. She had love interests. She got married. She had kids. Then she got MS and wrote a book.
How do I know all this?
Because I watched A Dream Is A Wish Your Heart Makes: The Annette Funicello Story! (And... uh, you should, too!) The movie was based on a book by the same title (minus the "Anne Funicello Story" part) that was co-written by Annette.
The movie begins by bringing us into the life of a young Annette. We see that she can sing; oh, she can sing. Her family gets some advice from a fortune teller and they decide to move to California. Annette takes ballet. Walt Disney comes to one of her recitals, sees her, likes her, and wants her to audition for this new show he's starting. Annette auditions, and the rest is history.
Annette goes from kid to teenager to adult, and we see her various romances, joys, and trials, culminating with her MS diagnosis. That part's sad. Sometimes when I watch A Dream, I watch the Mickey Mouse stuff and the beach party stuff and then I stop watching because the end is depressing, even though she doesn't die or anything. I mean duh, she's still alive today. It's just... you know... hard to handle.
On the bright side, Annette Funicello herself bookends the movie by telling this whole "my life" story to a little girl, a guest at her daughter's wedding. As she relates her tale, more and more childen find their way into the room, and soon she has a captivated audience of wide-eyed children.
Just like the old days.
